Welcome:

Todd Arthur Bridges is currently a postdoctoral fellow with research and teaching interests in economic sociology, political economy, organizational sociology, sociology of law, social network analysis, and regulation & social control. His graduate training, research assistantships, and teaching fellowships were done at Brown University, Harvard University, MIT, and The University of Chicago. During the 2010-2011 academic year he was a visiting fellow at the University of Oxford. During the 2011-2012 academic year he will be a postdoctoral fellow at an institute within the Max Planck Society for the Advancement of Science.

In general, sociology is the study of human societies and social activity. It is a social science that uses various methods of empirical investigation and critical analysis to develop and refine a body of knowledge on human social activity--often with the goal of applying such knowledge to the pursuit of social justice and welfare. Sociology is the study of what it means to be a member of a particular society, and it involves the critical analysis of the different types of social connections and social structures that constitute a society. This includes questions about how 'belonging' to a particular class, race, and gender affects the identity of individuals, and how these categories in-turn affect social behavior and interaction. In addition, sociology encompasses the study of the social institutions that shape social action. A social institution is a complex, but distinctive, sub-system of society that regulates human conduct. For example, the institution of media affects the way in which ‘facts’ are represented and interpreted; the institutions of law and politics affect the way in which different groups define what is deemed 'right' and ‘moral’; the institutions of economy and education affect the way in which 'social status' is distributed and perceived as legitimate; and the institution of family affects ideas about partnership, gender, sex, childrearing, and our bodies.

Research Focus #1: Institutional Change in Contemporary Capitalism, and its Governance Structure

The near-collapse of the global financial system can generally be perceived as a crisis of capitalism. This crisis of capitalism demands the attention of scholars, politicians, journalists and the general public. The early response by global leaders and central banks helped to minimize the immediate, catastrophic effects to the economy and mitigate the shocks to the larger society. Now that the economy has stabilized, however, social scientific research is needed to understand how changes in contemporary capitalism created the crisis. In particular, social scientists need to answer the following: 1) what role did changing institutions, such as new credit creation and intermediation processes, have in contributing to this crisis; 2) what role did changing social structures, such as increasingly connected networks of financial organizations, have in contributing to this crisis; 3) what role did changing organizational culture, such as the increasing propensity for risk taking behavior, have in contributing to this crisis; 4) what role did changing power relations, such as the increasing power of financial organizations versus governments, have in contributing to this crisis. Empirical findings from my current research project--on the governance structure of the shadow financial market--show that over the last 20+ years the institutional structure of the U.S. financial system has fundamentally changed. For example, the traditional bank-based institution, which has historically provided credit and liquidity to the larger economy and society, has been supplanted by a market-based institution. This market-based institution consists of networks of non-bank financial organizations that operate beyond  the formal laws issued by the federal government and enforced by the SEC. To date, my research has focused on how the institutional changes within the US financial system have evolved, and how networks of organizations within the shadow financial markets have purposefully avoided formal law and constructed a new governance structure.

Research Focus #2: A Socio-Logical Understanding of "The Market," and its Governance Structure

Markets are the core institution of capitalist economies and the backbone of most contemporary societies. Historically, the theoretical understanding and empirical analysis of markets were the intellectual domain of a number fields--economics, sociology, moral philosophy, and history. Over time, however, the economics profession has come to monopolize the domain often referred to as "The Market." This has resulted in a highly abstract and mathematical understanding of how markets function, and in predictions of market phenomenon that are inaccurate and unrealistic. The aim of this research project is to return our understanding of how markets function, and are governed, to better reflect the actual realities found within existing markets. This is achieved by approaching markets from a socio-logical perspective. At its core, the socio-logical perspective grounds the theoretical conceptualization of markets in the social, cultural, historical, and political foundations that give markets their form. Markets are dependent on these foundations for growth, sustainability, and governance. Empirical findings from my current research project--on the shadow financial system--show that formally "unregulated" markets are dependent on social networks and social institutions to  establish market legitimacy and govern organizational behavior.

Please take the time to view the following pages. If you have any questions or comments, send me an email and we can discuss it.

Best,
Todd Arthur Bridges